The omnibus trade act also extended duty-free access for farm (and now textile) exports from the Andean countries (except Venezuela), seen as alternatives to illegal drug production.

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If the Senate approves the agreement by the end of the year, as expected, 80% of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial goods and 90% of agricultural exports to Peru will immediately become duty-free, according to the U.S. trade representative's (USTR) office.

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Under the rules of the Southern African Customs Union, a fledgling free-trade area, cars made in Botswana can be exported to South Africa almost duty-free.

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This includes the use of its trade preference system, which gives Bangladesh duty- and quota-free access to markets in member states.

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Meanwhile, in a sign that the pro-free trade forces were gaining ground, House and Senate negotiators reached agreement on a new trade pact which would allow African, Caribbean and Central American countries to gain greater duty-free access to US markets.

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Stitching up closer trade relations elsewhere for example letting Bangladesh's booming garment industry export 10m pieces duty-free to India, or bidding for a big Indian investment to extract iron ore in Afghanistan also looks designed to win friends.

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